Jupiter Ascending is a fun movie with good special effects and an interesting world. I saw it after reading some really terrible reviews and that helped me enjoy it since I went with low expectations. The flaws in the movie are obvious and, ironically, related to the detailed world creation. The beginning catches our interest as it shows an odd couple falling in love, marrying and having a daughter the husband insists on naming Jupiter because he’s an astronomer. All this is good but irrelevant and should have been covered in two lines for the movie jumps ahead to Jupiter as Mila Kunis, a young woman in a miserable job with no hope. Suddenly, mysteriously, aliens are after her. Here I came to like Mila. She plays Jupiter as intelligent, calm and wary as one bizarre and life threatening event after another happens. She is rescued by Channing Tatum and then they are off to another world and finally we meet the villains and learn what the plot is and why everyone is after her. Much of the movie is taut and suspenseful as she struggles with her very dangerous situation but it’s too late for the viewers who hated it.

Jupiter Ascending would have made a great mini-series. It plays like the beginning of one instead of a single movie and that is what sunk it. That and the fact that because of The Matrix, I think a lot of critics were expecting a new Matrix. Warner Bros. suggested to the Wachowskis in 2009 that they write an original property that would lead to a franchise. This is the result and because it failed at the box office, it won’t lead to a franchise. It’s a shame because in a Hollywood where there is so little creativity or original work, this is admirable. At least, according to the internet, it is on its way to becoming a cult classic. It definitely has admirers.

So there you have it. It’s out on Netflix. As long as you watch it knowing its flaws, it’s a fun ride. ~~ Marian Powell